Chelsea comes into Barclays Premier League play on Thursday for Boxing Day with a chance of ending up at the top of the EPL table with a positive result against Swansea City and the match will be on at 10 am ET on NBC Live Extra streaming from Stamford Bridge and it is one of a number of exciting matchups, including with Liverpool and Manchester City at the end of the day.
Chelsea comes into the match after pulling a scoreless draw with Arsenal on Monday and that came after a disappointing 2-1 loss against Sunderland on the road in the Capital One Cup. The Blues had actually eliminated the Gunners from that tournament and now Chelsea will be looking to have a positive result before they play against table leaders Liverpool this weekend at Stamford Bridge. Before the match against Sunderland, Chelsea had a close victory over Crystal Palace and that followed a rough outing against Stoke City in early December and now the club will look to get on a nice streak while heading into a tough part of the schedule. Swansea comes into the match after losing 2-1 against Everton last time out and following this match at Stamford Bridge the club will be playing against Aston Villa and Manchester City next on the schedule heading into 2014.
Check here for the Chelsea and Swansea City live coverage.
The Blues had a chance to gain some ground on the EPL table with a win against Arsenal, but instead they pulled a scoreless draw with the Gunners and that led to some back and forth by the managers for both sides, with Jose Mourinho calling Arsenal style of play "boring" after the match at Emirates Stadium. Both sides were looking for the victory on Monday, but the rain drenched pitch made things very tough on both sides and the Gunners finished with just two shots on goal out of seven compared to four and 13 from the Blues and they also had more corners and a stronger time of possession over Chelsea and apart from a couple moments, neither side could break through for a score.
Arsene Wenger actually doesn't have a win over Chelsea under Mourinho and now the streak is into the double digits and now both clubs will be looking to get a positive result and the Gunners have a matchup with West Ham United and now are second on the league table behind the Reds due to the goal difference and they have the same amount of points. Arsenal has the chance to pull ahead with a nice result on Thursday and the match on Monday came after Chelsea defeated the Gunners in the Capital One Cup on the road. Chelsea had a disappointing result against Sunderland in the Capital One Cup and that led to a number of changes in the lineup for Mourinho heading into Premier League play and recalled John Terry, Eden Hazard and Ramires and now both clubs will be looking for a Boxing Day victory.
